# Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy available at BBC **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 7, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580 "2020-02-07T04:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/1 "2020-02-07T04:08:34Z")
The BBC [has an online version of the classic Infocom Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN2PLZG/the-game-30th-anniversary-edition)available to play. They’ve added some (static) graphics and a nice interface, plus all the clues you’ll probably need after not playing it for umpty years. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/2 "2020-02-07T04:12:04Z")
It’s been on internet archive and elsewhere for 800 billion yrs. HOWEVER, I’m still going to go play it again over at The Beeb. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/3 "2020-02-07T04:12:44Z")
nice i never got any f’n where on that game i hs … and when the teacher ordered the hint book idiots lost the pen for it and used a highlighter which killed off the print ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/4 "2020-02-07T17:44:01Z")
I’m trying to remember if it had documentation-based copy protection, the way a number of the later Infocom games did. (For example, in _Leather Goddesses of Phobos_, you had to type in something like “Kweepa” at some point every 11 turns or so; you only know this if you read the comic book that comes with the game.) Here’s a clue: Don’t forget your toothbrush when you leave Earth - otherwise, you might end up stuck in the game forever. At some point, Marvin asks you for something, and it’ll be something you don’t have if he can. Here’s another, which is something I didn’t like about the game: There is a location where it lists the directions you can go in, but if you choose one of them, it says, "We were only kidding about (being able to go there), and IIRC, you actually have to go in a direction not listed. There is also one where you have to type in “look” more than once before you actually find what you need. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/5 "2020-02-07T19:57:50Z")
The version of Hitchhiker’s that I had on my Mac didn’t have that copy protection. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/6 "2020-02-07T22:53:02Z")
I remember trying to play it on my Mac in 1984. Most maddening game evah. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/7 "2020-02-08T03:50:12Z")
I was never able to finish _any_ of those Infocom games without the hints. Maybe it was because I was still an adolescent and not clever enough yet, but I have no idea how people did it. Part of the problem was, as has been discussed before, there were ways you could get stuck without knowing you were stuck, wandering around the game world forever trying everything you could think of, having no way of knowing you missed the chance to get an item you no longer have access to and needed to restart the game. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/8 "2020-02-08T12:35:37Z")
I had this for the Apple ][. I remembered not liking it for some reason, then started playing using the link above, and now I remember. Sometimes, you just have to type the same thing over and over again – right at the beginning, you type “wait” like four times to get the tractor to stop. Other text-based games that I played never did that. Anyway, cool interface anyway! ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/9 "2020-02-08T19:04:13Z")
I remember being thwarted for a week by telling the computer to go “Port” when it needed to go “Starboard”. Nothing wrong with my thinking, it was just Douglas’s sense of humor crashing my reality. I don’t think I ever finished it. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/10 "2020-02-08T19:10:27Z")
I remember playing with a friend in high school on his commodore 128. i remember making it to the Vogon ship, but don’t remember after that. I just gave this a look and I like the interface better then just the command prompt of old. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/11 "2020-02-09T21:08:48Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I was never able to finish _any_ of those Infocom games without the hints. Maybe it was because I was still an adolescent and not clever enough yet, but I have no idea how people did it. > > Part of the problem was, as has been discussed before, there were ways you could get stuck without knowing you were stuck, wandering around the game world forever trying everything you could think of, having no way of knowing you missed the chance to get an item you no longer have access to and needed to restart the game. Oddly enough Hitchhiker’s was the only Infocom game I ever beat without hints. It took a long time, and I lost track of how many times I restarted. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/12 "2020-02-09T21:26:52Z")
This wasn’t a game; it was an exercise in torture. Do I really want that frustration again? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/13 "2020-02-09T21:39:15Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > This wasn’t a game; it was an exercise in torture. Do I really want that frustration again? How much do you hate yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/14 "2020-02-10T02:52:26Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > This wasn’t a game; it was an exercise in torture. Do I really want that frustration again? Just don’t panic. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/15 "2020-02-10T03:52:01Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > How much do you hate yourself? As much as a relapsed smack addict who just stole $40 from my daughter’s jewelry box. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/16 "2020-02-10T03:53:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Just don’t panic. I have my towel. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-available-at-bbc/847580/17 "2020-02-10T03:53:59Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > As much as a relapsed smack addict who just stole $40 from my daughter’s jewelry box. Very good then. Don’t forget the junk mail.